In the waters off Hua Hin's coastline, all was calm at first. Then, all of a sudden, a strong wind picked up, sending a young boy and his sailing dinghy to clash with another boat, which was leading the race.
That young boy was Radab Kanjanavanit, and he still remembers the incident from more than 40 years ago as if it was yesterday, because the sailor in the lead was none other than His Majesty Bhumibol Adulyadej.
"Because of the wind, I gained sudden speed. I tried my best to divert course but couldn't, and I ended up hitting the back of His Majesty's boat," recounted Radab, now 60 and the managing director of R.K.V. Engineering Consultant, one of Thailand's most prominent firms for planning and engineering design projects.
"I was visibly shaking. I wanted to throw up. I was only 14, after all. The clash was so loud, like the sound of a pounding drum. His Majesty was so calm about it, just looked back and said 'Oh'.
"After the race my father came up to me and gave me a big hug. Then he took me to where His Majesty was and I just kraab at his feet. He didn't say anything other than that I was very good at sailing. That made me cry even more. My father later joked that if this was the old days, I would have been beheaded."
Radab was born into a family fo engineers. His grandfather, Praya Prakitkollasat (Roonnachit Kanjanavanit), was an engineer supervising the building of railway routes from Bangkok to the Malaysian border. His late father, Dr Rachot Kanjanavanit, founded R.K.V. Engineering Consultant in 1955 and went on to build major projects like MBK Center, Central Chidlom, Siam City Cement Factory in Saraburi and Maptaput Deep Sea Port, to name just a few.
After his father passed away, in 1996, Radab took over the helm and the company's projects since then include Phuket's department store Jungceylon and many branches of CentralPlaza around the country, including most recently CentralFestival EastVille.
Sailing was his father's great passion and Radab was put on a boat at the age of four. His father bought a small piece of land near Jomtien Beach and would build his own sailing boats. Radab's first sailing experience was on a regular boat in the middle of which his father would stick a pole, using a bed sheet as makeshift sail.
The memorable accident took place during the Moth Class sailing-dinghy championship race, organised by the Yacht Racing Association of Thailand and the Royal Thai Navy at Klai Kangwon Palace in Hua Hin.
"He was really, really good," said Radab. "He was very disciplined, carefully studying which ways the wind was shifting. His concentration was unbelievable. He could manage to retain speed very consistently."
The mark of His Majesty's achievement in sailing was at the Fourth SEAP (Southeast Asian Peninsular) Games (now the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games), in 1967 in which the King and his eldest daughter, Princess Ubolratana, finished first in the OK Dinghy Division in Pattaya. The year before, he'd made a solo trip from Klai Kangwon Palace to the Thai Navy base at Toey Harbour in Sattahip, taking 16 hours.
Radab said that there are some people who wonder if His Majesty King Bhumibol was really good at sailing, whether it wasn't the case of people letting him win because he was King.
"If we were to let him win, he would have known and wouldn't have liked that. He wanted everybody to go full speed against him, and that's what we did. Did we beat him? Sometimes, of course. But in his prime, it was very difficult to beat him."
As a tribute to His Majesty the King's Fifth Cycle, or 60th birthday, in 1987, the Phuket King's Cup Regatta was founded by Royal Varuna sailors, including Radab's father, Dr Rachot. In his role as engineer, his father also worked on underpinning the structure of Klai Kangwon Palace at a time when its base was starting to deteriorate. Radab himself designed the base for His Majesty King Bhumibol's radio-transmitting mast at Chitralada Royal Villa, and also took care of the design for the extension structure of Chakri Throne Hall at the Grand Palace. Radab is now member of the committee of the Phuket King's Cup Regatta.
"Because His Majesty had been sick in recent years, it's hard for people of newer generations to have seen him out working, travelling all over the country," said Radab. "I want them to realise how lucky they are to have been born under the reign of King Rama IX."
HM the King sails a boat. photo courtesy of FB/Information Division of Office of His Majesty's Principal Private Secretary
